Episodes

  • Trump and Harris on Immigration

    Trump and Harris on Immigration
    Sep 23 2024
    https://youtu.be/pKCfFCED9XA Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Agustina Vergara Cid and Ben Bayer analyze the anti-American immigration platforms of both the Trump and Harris campaigns. Among the topics covered: The tribal and arbitrary nature of Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric; Why Republicans rely on fear-mongering to push their anti-immigration agenda; Harris’s shameful evasion of the immigration topic and the racism of her opponents; How both Democrats and Republicans share a collectivistic view of immigrants; The role of altruism in shaping the anti-American approach to immigration. Mentioned in this podcast are Vergara Cid’s essay “Rethink the Term ‘Illegal Immigrant,’” Ayn Rand’s essay “‘Extremism,’ or the Art of Smearing” and her answer to “Should There Be Open Immigration?” Also referenced are the New Ideal Live episodes “The Problem With Pro-Immigration Arguments,” “A Legal Crisis in Immigration,” and “Who Is a Communist?” The podcast was recorded on September 20, 2024. Watch archived podcasts here.
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 6 mins
  • How to Defend Free Speech

    How to Defend Free Speech
    Sep 20 2024
    https://youtu.be/emKgc2aO7x8 Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Agustina Vergara Cid interviews Gregory Salmieri about his essay “Free Speech as a Right and a Way of Life.” Among the topics covered: What free speech is and why a defense of it is needed; How to respond to acts of de-platforming and cancellation; Why the right to free speech is absolute; How public education violates free speech; Non-governmental violations of free speech; The difference between thought and action; When protests and civil disobedience are justified; How to promote a culture of free speech. Mentioned in this podcast are Gregory Salmieri’s essay “Free Speech as a Right and a Way of Life” and Tara Smith’s book The First Amendment: Essays on the Imperative of Intellectual Freedom. The episode was released on September 18, 2024. Watch archived podcasts here.
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Who is a Communist?

    Who is a Communist?
    Sep 18 2024
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C-eEwx1jv0 Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Onkar Ghate and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss the question of whether Kamala Harris is a communist, and if not, what the real problem with her views is. Among the topics covered: The essence of the Marxist ideology; Why Harris is not a communist; How the “communist” label helps New Right tribalists hide their own anti-Americanism; The importance of using concepts precisely; How mislabeling someone as “communist” whitewashes real communism. Recommended in this podcast are Ayn Rand’s article “The Left: Old and New” and Sotirakopoulos ’s lecture at AynRandCon Europe 2024 “Lessons From the Intellectual Success of Marxism.” The podcast was recorded on September 9, 2024 and released on September 14. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.
    Show more Show less
    31 mins
  • How America’s 9/11 Response Enabled October 7

    How America’s 9/11 Response Enabled October 7
    Sep 16 2024
    https://youtu.be/FpjW9B8aE8Q Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss how the failure of American post-9/11 policy led to the October 7 attacks. Among the topics covered: How the failed American response to 9/11 paved the way for October 7; How religion and altruism undermined the response to Islamic totalitarianism; How the West lies to itself about the nature of Hamas; Why there are no voices articulating a positive strategy for the Middle East; The need to rethink the philosophic principles guiding American foreign policy. Recommended in this podcast are Ghate and Journo’s book Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism: What Went Wrong After 9/11 and Journo’s Winning the Unwinnable War: America's Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism. The podcast premiered on September 11, 2024. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube Music. Watch archived podcasts here.
    Show more Show less
    44 mins
  • Contrarians of the New Right

    Contrarians of the New Right
    Sep 14 2024
    The new Right’s absurd positions cannot be explained by their adherence to any coherent ideology, but only by their tribal view of the world.
    Show more Show less
    8 mins
  • Free Speech as a Right and a Way of Life

    Free Speech as a Right and a Way of Life
    Sep 11 2024
    We must understand the philosophical foundations of the right to free speech to apply it to contemporary controversies.
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 40 mins
  • Was Ayn Rand a Jewish Thinker?

    Was Ayn Rand a Jewish Thinker?
    Sep 10 2024
    https://youtu.be/sdNoDhkU_eA Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo and Harry Binswanger analyze Alexandra Popoff’s new biography, Ayn Rand: Writing a Gospel of Success, particularly its portrayal of Rand as a “Jewish thinker.” They address the false attempt to link Rand’s “ethnicity” to her philosophy. Among the topics covered: The determinism of labeling Rand as “influenced” by her ancestry vs. the central role of choice in her thought and life; The irrelevant evidence offered for Rand’s “ethnic” identity; Spurious evidence of Rand’s reaction to Soviet injustices in her political thinking; Why Rand’s novels put plot first and were not merely a vehicle for ideas; How The Fountainhead is Rand’s rejection of Nietzsche’s ideas; How Popoff’s book fails to engage with Rand’s rejection of the tribalism central to the concept “ethnicity”; Why Ayn Rand called herself a Jew in response to Antisemitism; How Popoff’s book rehashes the same errors of older flawed biographies. Mentioned in this podcast are Ayn Rand’s essay “What Is Capitalism?” and her lecture “Global Balkanization.” The podcast was broadcast on September 6, 2024. Watch archived podcasts here.
    Show more Show less
    59 mins
  • We Ignore the Unconditional Right to Self-Defense at Our Peril

    We Ignore the Unconditional Right to Self-Defense at Our Peril
    Sep 8 2024
    The West is free today because it didn’t allow even the death of innocents to impede its right to self-defense.
    Show more Show less
    8 mins